The Professional Lifeworld of Elementary Teachers Facing the Ranking System and Its Impact on Teaching Quality
Keywords:
Professional lifeworld of elementary teachers, rating system, teaching qualityAbstract
Purpose: This study aims to explore teachers’ lived experiences of the ranking system and examine its consequences for teaching quality.
Methodology: This applied qualitative study was conducted within an interpretive-constructivist paradigm. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 28 elementary school teachers and principals until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis followed a systematic thematic analysis procedure, including open coding, generation of basic themes, organization into higher-order themes, and identification of overarching themes. A total of 117 initial codes, 54 basic themes, 15 organizing themes, and 4 overarching themes were extracted. Credibility was enhanced through participant validation, audit trails, and purposive sampling diversity .
Findings: The findings indicate that the ranking system leads to the transformation of teachers’ professional identity and agency, distortion of the teaching process, erosion of the school’s social fabric, and emergence of complex adaptive strategies. Intrinsic motivation is replaced by score-driven logic, teaching shifts toward performative and documentation-oriented practices, professional relationships become competitive and distrustful, and teachers adopt strategies such as gaming the system, passive resistance, and internal disengagement.
Conclusion: The ranking system functions beyond a mere evaluative mechanism, redefining teachers, teaching practices, and school relationships, while creating a profound gap between formal policy demands and teachers’ professional conscience.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ali Mohammad Karimi (Author); Hamid Shafizadeh; Maryam Afzal Khani (Author)
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